Writing my heart out since 1984. OK. Technically, 1989.

All week I’ve been asking myself, why haven’t I said #metoo? Why has seeing so many tweets and Facebook posts and Instagram captions full of stories of others’ pain made me feel sick instead of loud?

Why am I so fucking quiet?

It took a dose of Roxane Gay to help me figure it out. As she puts it in her searing op-ed for the Times, I am also too tired. I’ve done this jig many times in my personal life. I’ve written about it here. And I don’t want to keep having this conversation. I cannot keep telling everyone my stories. I don’t owe it to anyone.

A week ago, someone grabbed me at a concert. He avoided eye contact as he pushed past me, then clamped his hand on my ass as he walked away. Startled, I told my husband, “Don’t freak out. Please! I don’t want to miss the show.”

Yeah, I said that.

It wasn’t until the next day, while chatting with a colleague, that I reflected on how truly bizarre my reaction was. Especially coming from me, often first in line to speak up. But those are the tiny decisions so many of us make every day: Must I exit a public space every time a man finds a reason to make me uncomfortable? Must I question my choices in clothes, behavior, opinion? Must I wonder if maybe he meant to just pat some other body part? (Is that OK?!) Must I ask myself if the psycho who followed me to the gym the other day and then banged on the window when I ran inside was “just” crazy and not really after me specifically? Must I say things to myself like, “There are so many beautiful 20-somethings here, it can’t be that, it can’t be me”? Must I wonder: Maybe it was a compliment?

No. Thank. You. I already cross the street when I see or sense a man coming toward me, look over my shoulder, use store mirrors to track weirdos, wear headphones with no music while walking alone, carry my keys splayed out while walking through parking lots alone…you get the picture. I went to therapy. I did “homework.” I told everyone, over and over, about my life. My private life. Fuck if I am leaving concerts now too. And fuck if I am defending why I didn’t.

I don’t want to have to tell my stories over and over just to prove to people that rape jokes aren’t funny or that women’s experiences are fundamentally unequal or that pain and fear are features of our lives no matter how much we are paid or how far we advance or how awesome our husbands are or how great our male colleagues are. (On both counts, I’m lucky. I mean that word in its literal sense.)

And that, I suppose, is what got to me about #metoo. Why is the onus on us to keep talking? Why must I share my painful stories in public? What is the expected result of all this discussion?

To all people who’ve been harmed in this way and in so many other unbearable ways: No, it is not your job to remind everyone that you too are human. It is not just on you. (And frankly, this extends to just about every social ill. You don’t need to prove you’re victimized “enough” to merit a response.)

I’m not suggesting there’s no power in talking, or in awareness; there is big, bad power in bearing witness. We need it. But at some point, we also need to say hey — I’m tired of this shit. Aren’t you?

“…And then there are the men who act so overwhelmed, who ask, ‘What can I possibly do?’

The answer is simple.

Men can start putting in some of the work women have long done in offering testimony. They can come forward and say ‘me too’ while sharing how they have hurt women in ways great and small…It would equally be a balm if men spoke up about the times when they witnessed violence or harassment and looked the other way or laughed it off or secretly thought a woman was asking for it. It’s time for men to start answering for themselves because women cannot possibly solve this problem they had no hand in creating.”

A lot of people ask me for advice about becoming a professional writer or editor. Maybe because of my credentials, or my good looks. More likely it’s because they want to work from home and wear nap socks all day.

Now, by definition, my advice is limited to what I know best (although you’ll notice that doesn’t stop me from issuing 1700 words on the matter), so this list is aimed at those of you who will end up in [editorial/comms/staff writing/copywriting/freelancing/content marketing] roles. Sorry, J-school folks; I’ve artfully sidestepped your territory here.

With that in mind, here are some of the questions I get asked most often, and a few observations I hope will help you. Read On…

Creating content for your business is a long-term play. Not that there aren’t search and traffic benefits — there are — but as search engines get smarter, content marketers need to get smarter too by prioritizing customer value over short-term wins. The most pressing problem is: how do you achieve that while also achieving business objectives?

One issue is that people prize things like links and disregard the opportunity to create content that meets more complex search demands. But I also think it’s unclear what kind of content creates value, for the organization and the customer. Read On…

Content is now a game nearly every business is playing, and I think it’s great. Done well, content marketing — even at the most elementary level — can lead to big rewards.

However, the reality is few people have time to craft business content that actually drives results. Yes, there are a handful of entrepreneurs and VCs and solopreneurs who do a swell job writing excellent, in-depth content that I am actually envious of — and I say that as someone who used to get paid to do that (these days I edit more than I ever write) — but they are almost certainly outliers. Read On…

The best — and hardest — thing I ever did was start a business. I didn’t do it for freedom. I did it for math: people wanted to pay me to do things I already did. And I needed work that wasn’t tethered to one country.

So I sat on my roof in Mexico, watching the sun set over the Sea of Cortez, and I brainstormed business names with my husband. A few days later, we drove across the fourlane to Staples and printed out our very first business cards, which we hand-cut.

I don’t run that business anymore, and we changed cards many times thereafter, but I still have one of those first pieces of cardstock. It has a drawing of a little bird holding a loop of pink string in its beak: a reminder. Read On…